Different Cover Letter Formats

Get to know the three standard cover letter formats to decide which one will work best for your current job search.

Cover Letter Types

Paragraph style

Comparison-list style

Bullet style

The Paragraph Cover Letter

The Paragraph style cover letter is a traditionally formatted cover letter consisting of three paragraphs answering what job you are applying for, why and how the employer can follow-up with you. This type of cover letter:

Examples of the Bullet Cover Letter

TIP: E-mailing Your Cover Letter

The last tip in cover letter writing is when you are e-mailing your resume to an individual, place your cover letter as the e-mail text. If the employer reads your cover letter first, they will be more interested in your resume. Quite often when people attach their cover letter and resume separately, an employer goes directly to the resume and misses the important information in your cover letter. And sometimes if the employer reads the cover letter first, they are already sold on your skills.